


Stemming the Flow

by KahtyaSofia



Series: Captain's Blog - S2 [19]
Category: Torchwood
Genre: Episode Tag, Episode: Adrift, Episode: Exit Wounds, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-11-22
Updated: 2009-11-22
Packaged: 2017-10-03 13:20:21
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KahtyaSofia/pseuds/KahtyaSofia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jack and Ianto deal with the aftermath of 'Exit Wounds'.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stemming the Flow

**Author's Note:**

> This completes the Captain's Blog Series for S2. Enjoy.

Ianto sat on the floor of Jack's office, back against the bricks, empty tumbler lying forgotten beside him. He hadn't had the energy to dress in a suit after his shower so he had just slipped into a dark-coloured Henley, jeans and lug-soled boots.

In a strange reversal of roles, it was Jack who was dressed almost formally. His clothing was all dark: shirt, waistcoat, braces, trousers, everything. He hadn't even rolled up his sleeves, per usual, but kept them fastened with his RAF cufflinks. In mourning, he had reverted to uniform. Even his hair seemed to have taken on a darker hue. Ianto missed the golden highlights that once caught the light.

Jack sat at his desk, elbows on his knees, as he cradled his own empty tumbler. They hadn't spoken in so long that Ianto had lost track of time. Tosh was secured in her crypt; both she and Owen were permanently logged out of the system; and John Hart had been sent packing. UNIT had moved in to secure the city and COBRA had sent the regular military with emergency medical supplies, food, and water. What remained of Torchwood wasn't really needed for anything right now. Tomorrow, Jack had said, they would liaise with COBRA and make sure their city was being rebuilt correctly.

Tonight was for mourning.

Ianto finally roused himself. "Should I go?" he asked.

"No," Jack responded quickly and fiercely. "No, please don't."

"Okay," Ianto said, not knowing what he could possibly say or do in this situation.

As if reading his mind, Jack said, "I don't need you to do anything. I just need you close by."

That Ianto could do. He didn't feel he was good for much right now, but he could handle staying close and doing nothing.

His mind drifted to the email he'd received with a personal goodbye from Tosh. He didn't know if Jack and Gwen had each received one and he didn't dare ask. If they had, they would want to compare, and Ianto didn't really want to share his precious last communiqué. If they hadn't, he might inadvertently add to their pain and, in Jack's case, guilt. So, he kept silent. But he remembered her words.

"Ianto, I guess this is goodbye…"

His breath had caught in his chest for the millionth time that day.

"I always knew I'd go before you. You're too careful and precise."

Not careful and precise enough to have saved her or Owen.

"Thank you for being my friend. You listened to me go on and on about Owen, you listened to me gripe about Gwen, and you let me teach you all that Jack had taught me."

Funny, that. Ianto had thought Tosh was doing him a favour, not the other way around.

"You got me through a lot of difficult things and I hope I did the same for you from time to time."

She had. She really had.

"Lean on Jack, Ianto. He's your constant. He never changes and you need that after all you've been through. He'll be leaning on you, as well."

Ianto doubted that. Jack seemed to be turning in on himself. He cried a lot and didn't say much.

"All those things I taught you about Mainframe are going to come in handy now. Jack will need that knowledge. When he replaces me, you'll have to bring the new person up to speed."

You can't be replaced, Toshiko.

"Let yourself be happy with Jack. You've earned it. Both of you have. Grab it when and where you can."

Tosh, more than anyone, understood the importance of that.

"Oh, and thank you for convincing Jack to let me contact my family again."

That had brought Ianto up short.

"You didn't think I knew about that, did you? Well, I did."

Ianto could imagine Tosh smiling fondly as she typed this and he felt tears prick at the backs of his eyes yet again. His throat constricted painfully and he drew a steadying breath.

"You were a good friend, Ianto. I love you. Goodbye."

"Where's Gwen?" Jack's question dragged Ianto back to the present.

"She went home hours ago."

Jack blinked rapidly several times into the distance. "Oh, that's right."

Gwen had worked right through her tears. She did wonderful things coordinating the emergency services responses, even in their devastated states. She cried freely for her fallen comrades but she kept on doing what needed to be done. Ianto couldn't fault her at all.

"We should be doing something," Jack said. He looked around and seemed lost.

"It's all handled until tomorrow," Ianto said.

"I feel like I should be doing something. Anything."

"You've done all you can, Jack," Ianto said on a heavy sigh.

It had been Jack who had cleaned up the evidence of Tosh's murder. Ianto had still been rooted to his spot in Autopsy, devastated by having watched his best friend die in Jack's arms. Jack had done a great mercy by handling the details of that particular death by Torchwood. Ianto had said goodbye to Tosh before Jack had closed her into her crypt.

There had been nothing left of Owen to retrieve. There had been no remains to lock into a drawer or to which to bid farewell. It left a gaping hole in Ianto's gut. Owen's death somehow didn't feel real; it seemed as if he'd come bouncing out of Autopsy with a smart ass comment on his lips at any time. Ianto wished with all his heart that this could happen.

He had pulled himself together long enough to help pack up the contents of Tosh's desk and her locker. He'd had the painful task of executing her and Owen's final logouts from the system. He wanted nothing more than to go home, curl up under the covers and cry his eyes out for a week. He missed his friends desperately.

Only, he was Torchwood, and Torchwood had a job to do. The Rift didn't allow for mourning. It would surely start spitting out the refuse of the Universe any second now.

Not only would he and Jack have to work with COBRA and UNIT to rebuild Cardiff, but they would also have to manage the Rift and all the threats it would hurl out in the coming days. They had a plan to check in with the police, fire stations and hospitals tomorrow to make sure all the resources were being adequately distributed. No one else cared about their city like they did. They would make sure it began to rebuild the right way.

Ianto rolled his head against the bricks and looked over at Jack. The man had been buried for two thousand years. Ianto couldn't wrap his head around that. Jack seemed none the worse for wear, now that he was cleaned up, John was gone, and Gray was sleeping.

Sleeping. If that wasn't a euphemism, Ianto didn't know the meaning of the word.

Again, Ianto felt sick to his stomach when he thought of Jack buried beneath Cardiff until 1901. It must have been an equal hell to have been dug up by Alice Guppy. Jack had thought he'd escaped that particular demon once before.

"My arse is numb," Ianto said idly, realizing his tailbone was beginning to ache.

"We can't have that," Jack said with a ghost of a smile.

"Do you really want to spend the night here?" Ianto asked suddenly. "Or should we go back to mine?"

Jack didn't answer for quite awhile. Then he replied softly, "No, I don't really want to stay here tonight."

Ianto stood up and dusted himself off. "Then let's get the hell out."

Jack took Ianto's outstretched hand and they left the Hub together for the night.

 

Their coupling had been hot and fierce and desperate. They had bitten one another's skin, pulled each other's hair and screamed as they came. They avoided eye contact and conversation. Neither of them had sought comfort or connection. It had all been an affirmation of life; they were each still alive and both needed to feel it.

Ianto had fallen asleep almost immediately. His exhaustion was borne of fatigue and grief.

He'd awakened screaming Owen's name.

"Ianto, Ianto." Jack's voice and hands were meant to be soothing. They had coaxed and eased him from his night terror, and then Jack's strong arms had pulled him close and held him. "Shhhh, it's all right," Jack had murmured. "I've got you. I'm here."

Ianto had clung to Jack, sucking in air and trying to control his trembling. He hadn't intended to talk. He didn't want to burden Jack with this on top of everything else, but before he could stop them, the words had tumbled out.

"I couldn't do it. I couldn't save them."

"Couldn't save who? Owen?" Jack had asked against his hair.

"And Tosh."

"There was nothing you could do, Ianto. None of it was your fault."

"I could have pushed the button."

"What button?"

"In my dream. I was in Autopsy and I could have saved them both if I had just hit the button. But I couldn't. I couldn't move my hand. I couldn't say anything. I had to watch them both die. I was helpless, Jack." Ianto was mortified at the strangled sob that escaped before he could choke it back.

"Yeah, I know what that feels like," Jack had whispered. "But you are in no way responsible for their deaths. You didn't fail them, Ianto. You didn't let them down."

Ianto wanted so badly to believe Jack that he didn't argue.

 

Ianto was hot on Jack's heels as he swept into A&amp;E.

"We're Torchwood," Jack told the first person in scrubs he found. "I need your Senior Charge Nurse."

The woman turned and shouted across Casualty, "Emma! Torchwood needs you." With a brief nod to Jack and Ianto, she hurried off into the crowd of hospital personnel.

A youthful and attractive young woman approached Jack and Ianto. "I'm Emma Landis, Acting Senior Charge Nurse. What do you need?"

Jack gifted her with a bright smile. "We're here to see what you need." He and Ianto had encountered an awful lot of young people who had recently been just another member of staff who now had no choice but to step up and take charge.

"I don't understand," she replied, her brow furrowed.

"Do you have what you need to handle your current level of patients? Are UNIT and the military supplying you with what you need?"

"They are, actually," Emma said, surprised. "What we really need is more personnel, and the military is trying to help with that."

"You have enough blood? Plasma? Medicine?"

"We're making do and more is being delivered all the time."

"Good. Would you happen to know where your Clinical Director is?"

"Dr. Miller was killed in one of the explosions. One of the Duty Surgeons has stepped in but I don't know for sure which one. You can check with surgical theatres. Someone there may know."

Jack laid a comforting hand on Emma's shoulder before guiding Ianto to the lift with a hand at his back.

 

Jack intercepted the first nurse to exit a theatre. "We're with Torchwood. Would you happen to know who your acting Clinical Director is?"

"Dr. Stanous had been filling those duties but we're still pretty overwhelmed with actual surgeries."

"Is he here? Can I speak with him?"

"She is in surgery, in that theatre. I'll tell her you need to speak with her."

The nurse led Jack and Ianto to the audience area overlooking the operating theatre. The nurse entered and spoke briefly to one of the surgeons. The doctor glanced up in their direction and Ianto couldn't help but think her eyes, the only part of her face he could see, looked familiar.

Dr. Stanous' eyes widened slightly when she saw them, but Ianto thought that was just because it wasn't everyday Torchwood came calling.  
Jack and Ianto watched as she finished up her surgery. Dr. Stanous stripped off the set of bloody outer gloves and gestured with a nod of her head for them to meet her in the anteroom.

Ianto saw Dr. Stanous step through the swinging double doors and begin to untie her surgical mask.

"Dr. Stanous," Jack began. "We're Torchwood. I'm Captain Jack Harkness and this is…"

Ianto watched the doctor drop the mask from her face as she looked up and interrupted Jack. "Ianto."

Ianto felt his jaw hit the floor and Jack tense up beside him.

"Martina?" Jack asked, just above a whisper.

"Dr. Martina Stanous," she said, holding out her now un-gloved hand for Jack to shake. Her eyes willed them both to remain professional. "I've been Acting Clinical Director since Dr. Miller was killed in the explosions. I'm not really qualified, but I was here that night, and I have seniority, so…"

Jack shifted his weight and cleared his throat. "Torchwood is just checking in with all emergency services to make sure everyone's getting what they need to function."

Martina nodded. "We're doing well, all things considered. The military got our generator up and running and they're keeping us in petrol. They and UNIT are both making regular deliveries of medical supplies. We just need more doctors and nurses to care for so many patients."

"The A&amp;E Senior Charge Nurse said the same thing," Ianto said. "We'll see what we can do."

"Your help is appreciated. Really," Martina said genuinely. "Most of us haven't even had a chance to sleep and our patient counts keep rising as they dig survivors out of the rubble."

Ianto flinched at her words and he could only imagine Jack's expression.

"Thank you for helping," Jack said as he clasped one of Martina's hands in both of his own. "So many of you are doing so many amazing things…," he trailed off.

Ianto watched as Jack and Martina just stared at one another in silent understanding. They were two combatants in a war on their home turf and both had seen more than their fair share of deaths they could do nothing to prevent.

"If you need anything," Ianto said to Martina, not to Dr. Stanous, "call me. Anything at all."

"Thank you. I'll do that." Her eyes told him she understood.

Jack's expression was pained as he continued to regard Martina. "I'm sorry," he said finally.

"For what, Captain?" she asked, confused.

Ianto began to steer Jack from the anteroom. "We're both sorry we couldn't prevent this."

"Right now, I don't care about that. Just do what you can to help us through it."

Ianto nodded and dragged Jack from the hospital.

 

They had almost reached the SUV when Jack finally spoke. "Did you know?"

Ianto turned back to face him, not sure what Jack was asking. "Did I know what?"

"Martina," Jack replied simply.

"No." Ianto let some of the wonder he was feeling seep into his voice. "I had no idea."

"She was obviously highly-educated." Jack began to walk again.

"You could tell just by talking with her," Ianto concurred.

"She's always seemed like a leader, someone who can guide and motivate other people."

"Absolutely."

"A surgeon," Jack murmured, obviously wrapping his head around the information.

"And now she's in charge of an entire hospital while, at the same time, she's trying to save as many lives as possible."

They had reached the SUV. "Make sure she has what she needs, Ianto."

"It goes without saying, Jack."

 

Ianto was sat at what he still considered to be Tosh's workstation. Jack was on his mobile to someone, either UNIT or regular military, giving instructions as to where certain additional resources were most needed.

Ianto was busy being impressed with Jack's forbearance when an incoming video call grabbed his attention.

Ianto heaved a heavy sigh just before he accepted the call. "Bloody Whitehall," he muttered, activating the video communications display.  
A bespectacled middle-aged man appeared on screen and Ianto greeted the image. "Torchwood Cardiff."

"Milo Fritter here, calling from the offices of COBRA…"

Ianto's spine stiffened immediately. "I know who you are," Ianto said abruptly. This was the idiot who thought he knew what was best for Cardiff as he issued orders from the safety and comfort of London.

"Well then." Milo was obviously taken aback by Ianto's brusqueness. "I'm looking for Captain Jack Harkness."

"He's on the phone trying to get the dead and dying seen to," Ianto snapped. "What do you need with him?"

"I need to discuss with him…"

Ianto didn't let the weasel finish. "You have nothing to discuss with any of us. We tell you what we need and where to send it and you do it."

"Excuse me, but to whom…"

"Ianto Jones. Now, I personally sent you Captain Harkness' reports on what is needed so I know you have the information. Exactly what is the purpose of this call?"

"Mr. Jones, you lot down in Cardiff don't seem to understand…"

"We understand that our homes and our families have been devastated. Our city is nearly destroyed. Our loved ones are injured and dying. We have little power, little food, barely enough clean water. We understand that you are getting three meals per day catered while you 'handle the crises' and you get to sleep in your own beds at night. How are you better equipped to coordinate our recovery than we are?" Ianto's back was ramrod straight and tense. He bit out every word of each sentence with disdain. He schooled his expression as best he could, but he knew his anger, his resentment, and his grief bled through.

"We're working very hard here on your behalf," Milo sputtered. "It is you who requires our help!"

Ianto bristled at the man's tone. "Yes, well, I apologize that the deaths of my two colleagues has so depleted Torchwood's manpower that we now must seek help from the same government we've saved a time or two."

Ianto could hear Jack's heavy footfalls as he came across the Hub to see if Ianto needed help.

"When I die in the line of duty I'll be sure it doesn't impact Whitehall in the slightest. Now, Mr. Fritter, UNIT will be happy to coordinate with you for what Cardiff requires." With that, Ianto terminated the connection.

He was rather proud of himself when he spun in his chair to smile at Jack. The expression on Jack's face struck fear into Ianto's heart. He stood and started to reach out. "What's wrong, Jack?"

"Don't ever say anything like that again." Jack voice was soft but encased in steel.

Ianto frowned slightly, confused. Jack never stood on ceremony with Whitehall and Ianto had carte blanche to deal with them as needed to achieve their objectives.

"I'm sorry." Ianto took a step backward. "I thought I was to get things done correctly, no matter what I had to do."

Jack waved a hand impatiently. "I'm not talking about putting that wanker in his place," he said. "I mean, don't ever talk about dying in the line of duty so blithely."

Ianto recalled his own words and felt himself colour. "You know I didn't mean to belittle Tosh and Owen's deaths…"

"Ianto, Ianto," Jack said, rushing forward and grasping Ianto's face in both hands. "Don't you know that the one shining light in all of this is that you and Gwen survived? Don't you realize that John Hart still walks this planet with all of his parts intact because you made it out of that building alive and without permanent injury?"

Ianto knew he needed to breathe but the intensity the look in Jack's eyes made it nearly impossible.

"Don't make light of your own death. Ever." Jack pulled Ianto roughly against him and just held on.

Ianto buried his face in Jack's neck and finally let himself cry.

 

They were back at the Hub after checking in with Gwen to see if she needed their help. She was doing a wonderful job of getting the police and other emergency services back on their feet. Jack had discovered that it seemed to help her if he stopped in to speak with her a couple times a day and just gave her a hug and some words of encouragement.

Ianto realized he hadn't seen Jack in quite awhile. He wasn't in his office, his bunker, or any of the areas he frequented. He could call him on the comm but something made him hesitate. Ianto pulled up CCTV and began to scroll through different camera views until he found him.

Jack was in the morgue, kneeling in front of a drawer with his forehead pressed against it. Ianto could tell by the shaking of his shoulders that Jack was crying.

The crypt was Gray's.

Not for the first time - and it would certainly not be the last - Ianto wondered at the wisdom of keeping Gray alive, even if he was frozen. Things could happen. He knew, maybe better than anyone, that letting go of the dream of being reunited with a loved one could be nigh onto impossible. He also knew better than anyone that holding on to such dreams could have deadly ramifications.

Still, they had some time to mourn Tosh and Owen before Gray really had to be dealt with. They had to deal with one tragedy at a time.

Ianto slipped quietly into the morgue, hearing his own footfalls echo off the walls and high ceilings. He approached Jack slowly and sat down beside his kneeling form, resting his back against the bank of drawers.

Ianto just sat. He didn't speak. He didn't touch Jack. He just sat. And his heart broke at the sound of Jack's sobs.

"I failed," Jack said suddenly in a choked voice.

"No you didn't." The concrete floor was cold beneath him, leaching the heat from his bones.

"I failed my brother. I failed Tosh and Owen. I failed you and Gwen."

"No. You didn't."

"Two thousand years doesn't begin to cover it," Jack sighed, banging his head lightly against the crypt door.

"It more than covers it, Jack. You get penance points for all the good things you do day in and day out. The scales balance." Ianto kept his tone low and soothing, willing Jack to forgive himself.

"I keep going over it in my head and I can't figure out where I could have done anything differently. I don't know how I could have stopped all of this."

"Maybe that's your answer."

Jack turned and sat down beside Ianto. "You cut me too much slack, Ianto." He could see Jack's eyes were red-rimmed from crying. He made no move to wipe away the tear tracks from his cheeks. The dim lighting of the morgue made Jack appear more haunted than usual.

"I learned forgiveness from you, Jack."

Jack finally turned to look at Ianto and he felt his heart break �" again. Jack's expression was as bleak as winter. Ianto reached out tentatively and grasped Jack's hand nearest to him. He was emboldened when Jack didn't resist. Ianto didn't flinch at the pain he saw, but instead let Jack see all the care and understanding Ianto held in his soul.

 

Jack paused in his stride across the Plass to turn his face toward the ocean. Ianto stopped walking and watched as Jack took several deep breaths and closed his eyes against the heavy Cardiff mist.

Ianto said nothing. Jack had been doing this from time to time since he'd climbed out of his cryo-drawer.

"I didn't breath for two thousand years," Jack finally said. "Didn't feel the ocean breeze or the rain on my face."

"Is it wrong that I don't know what to say to that?" Ianto asked, hating the sense of helplessness he'd been feeling lately.

"Not at all. I don't expect you to understand."

"You know me, though," Ianto said ruefully.

Jack turned to face him. "What do you think happened for all those years?" he asked.

Ianto was surprised at Jack's question. "Two thousand years of dying and reviving. Cardiff's own Dionysus, I guess."

Jack shook his head and said, matter-of-factly, "Nah. I revived and smothered again a few times until the soil compaction made that impossible, then I just shut down, for the most part."

"Sort of like how you zone out at night?"

"Yeah," Jack said after he gave it some thought. "Not unlike that."

"Weren't you aware of where you were? What was happening?" Ianto was equal parts pleased that Jack was sharing this particular horror with him, and terrified by the reality of the experience as it was laid out for him.

"On some level, yeah, just like I do at night. I knew it as the city grew up around me and over me. I had some idea of the passage of time and what historical events were taking place above me. It was almost like the rain carried the information down to me through the soil."

"I still don't know how you endured it," Ianto finally said, putting a lingering fear into words. He could almost physically feel their power over him blow away in the wind.

"I knew John would return and locate the signal and you'd dig me up. I knew I'd get back to you."

"But when Torchwood 1901 dug you up instead?"

"Even better. Guppy set the temporal lock on my cryo-drawer and out I popped at just the right moment." Jack's tone took on a lighter note, as if trying to minimize the events he described, "Nice of you to play the damsel in distress and let me rescue you from the vaults, by the way." He gave Ianto a bright smile, banishing the sombre mood altogether.

Ianto laughed for the first time in what felt like ages.

"If we hadn't been able to locate you, I would have torn John apart," Ianto confessed.

"John seems to encourage that sentiment among Torchwood staff," Jack said dryly. "How long was I missing in your timeline?" he asked suddenly.

"A few agonizing hours," Ianto answered.

"Then that's how long I was gone. No more."

"Jack…"

"Ianto," Jack chided. "I'm here. I made it back. Spend your energy mourning your friends who didn't make it out alive." He rubbed a soothing hand over Ianto's back.

"I thought you were going to be one of them," Ianto admitted for the first time.

"What do you mean?"

"When Hart told us you'd been buried, but then we couldn't find the ring's signal, I was afraid we'd never find you." As the memory of those long hours of dread and uncertainty once again overwhelmed Ianto, he looked away from Jack.

"I remember you said that when I let you out of the cells."

"I kept wondering if the signal from the ring was even real. If we could trust John. And I couldn't do a thing to help." He could feel Jack's eyes on him but Ianto didn't trust himself to turn back.

"But the signal was missing cause I'd already been dug up. If Alice hadn't already found me, the signal would have been there for Tosh to find. It all worked out," Jack replied reassuringly. He nudged Ianto's shoulder with his own a couple of times in a silent bid to get Ianto to look at him.

Ianto acquiesced, finally looking back at Jack and nodding. He knew Jack's words were true but the fear of that day was still so fresh. Jack slung an arm around his shoulders and they finished their walk back to the Hub.

 

Things seemed like they were finally getting back to normal when Ianto found the book.

Martina had phoned to tell him that both UNIT and the military were sending their own doctors and nurses, temporarily reassigned, to help out at local hospitals. Médecins Sans Frontières were sending personnel as well. They were getting control. They could see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Ianto had been pleased at this news.

He was searching for a book to read while he waited for Jack to return from chasing down some piece of Rift flotsam. He couldn't wait to tell him of Martina's call.

Then he found the book, and it brought him to his knees.

Tosh had loaned him this book. It was her personal copy, complete with annotations. The sight of her handwriting in the margins of a book she had so loved, that she had held in her hands, caused Ianto to unravel completely. Apparently he hadn't been nearly as in control of his emotions as he'd thought.

He tried to compose himself when he heard Jack enter the flat but he didn't make it.

As soon as he saw Ianto, Jack dropped to his knees beside him and gathered him up in his arms.

"Finally," Jack sighed. "Your composure was starting to scare me. I know you're hurting more than one good cry's worth."

Jack's easy acceptance of his overwhelming grief had Ianto clutching at Jack's shirt and sobbing harder.

"Now we can start to move on," Ianto heard Jack whisper, then felt Jack's lips press to his temple.

 

Ianto was making an effort to mend the shelf behind Jack. It had been broken for the longest time and most likely couldn't even been repaired. Still, it gave Ianto an excuse to be behind Jack to keep an eye on him.

Jack was finally entering his Log for the events surrounding Owen, Tosh and Gray. Ianto didn't care what Jack was writing. He wanted to monitor Jack's emotions and intervene if necessary.

Ianto felt his anxiety begin to ebb as Jack typed his name at the end of the Log, signalling that he was finished. Relief turned to confusion when Jack kept typing, so Ianto looked up.

Ianto, I know you're reading this over my shoulder, pretending to fix that damn shelf. So get over here and take me out somewhere.

Ianto let the broken shelf fall to the floor with a clatter. He grabbed both of their coats and dragged Jack from the Hub without a word.

 

Epilogue: Martina meets Torchwood.  
Just for fun.

Theresa entered the operating theatre and announced that Torchwood wanted to speak with her as soon as she could get free.

"What do they want with me?" she asked the nurse.

"You're in charge around here, Martina," Theresa said simply. "Goes with the territory."

"I'm in charge cause no one else is dumb enough," Martina muttered to herself, her voice muffled by her surgical mask.

"I put them in the observation lounge for now," Theresa told her.

Reflexively, Martina glanced up at the large window. She took in the sight of the two men who stood watching her operate and her eyes widened in shock. She noted that Ianto had observed her change in expression. He was probably marking it up to her surprise at Torchwood's presence.

Damn. She was too tired to have to deal with this on top of everything else. She hadn't really slept in days. She'd lost track of the number of surgeries she'd performed since Cardiff had gone up in flames. She wanted a good meal, a hot bath, and a week's worth of sleep.

She did not want to have to pretend she was meeting Jack and Ianto for the first time.

Instructing the assisting surgeon to close the incision, she tilted her head to indicate Jack and Ianto should meet her in the scrub room. She pulled off her outer gloves and went out to face the music.

"Dr. Stanous," she heard Jack say as she stepped through the swinging doors, untying her mask. "We're Torchwood. I'm Captain Jack Harkness and this is…"

As she dropped the mask from her face, she knew her secret was out. She interrupted Jack.

"Ianto," she provided.

Ianto's jaw fell open and Jack looked stunned.

"Martina?" Jack asked, just above a whisper.

"Dr. Martina Stanous," she said, holding out her now un-gloved hand for Jack to shake. She hoped her professional demeanour would encourage them to play along. "I've been Acting Clinical Director since Dr. Miller was killed in the explosions. I'm not really qualified, but I was here that night, and I have seniority, so…"

Jack shifted his weight and cleared his throat. "Torchwood is just checking in with all emergency services to make sure everyone's getting what they need to function."

Martina nodded, relieved that the boys had taken the hint. She was uncomfortable having them here, but at the same time it was wonderful to see them. They had survived the night from hell.

"We're doing well, all things considered," she told them. "The military got our generator up and running and they're keeping us in petrol. They and UNIT are both making regular deliveries of medical supplies. We just need more doctors and nurses to care for so many patients."

"The A&amp;E Senior Charge Nurse said the same thing," Ianto said. "We'll see what we can do."

"Your help is appreciated. Really," Martina said, appreciative of any help she could get, regardless of the source. "Most of us haven't even had a chance to sleep and our patient counts keep rising as they dig survivors out of the rubble."

Ianto flinched at her words. Jack's expression was shuttered. Torchwood. Jack and Ianto were Torchwood. It explained so much.

"Thank you for helping," Jack said as he clasped one of Martina's hands in both of his own. "So many of you are doing so many amazing things…," he trailed off.

Jack continued to hold her gaze. Here was a man who knew what she was enduring. He understood the horrors she was seeing and he empathized with her.

"If you need anything," Ianto said, and Martina realized he was telling this to her, not to Dr. Stanous, "call me. Anything at all."

"Thank you. I'll do that," She knew she would call as soon as she could catch her breath.

Jack's expression was pained as he continued to regard Martina. "I'm sorry," he said finally.

"For what, Captain?" she asked, confused.

Ianto began to steer Jack from the scrub room. "We're both sorry we couldn't prevent this."

What they thought they could have done to prevent any of this, Martina didn't know. She was sure she knew these men well enough to know that if they could have died to stop this destruction, they would have.

"Right now, I don't care about that. Just do what you can to help us through it."

Jack and Ianto nodded and then left. Martina heaved a heavy sigh of relief and moved on to find her next patient.

finito

(OK to convert and Kindle as long as header remains intact)


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